


Always

by orphan_account



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: AU where Darkstar allows Maple to stay in riverclan, Appledusk - Freeform, F/F, Her clanmates love her, Maple and Reedshine are good friends, Oneshot, Other, She doesn't she hasn't been a kitty serial killer, They worked everything out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:01:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23234410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Relationships: Mapleshade/Darkstar
Kudos: 41





	Always

_Mapleshade felt water thrust into her and her vision was turned to black. Her paws churned the river, clawing her way to the surface and bursting out into the foam waves. Patchkit called from downstream, his tint voice sounded petrified. "Mama! Please! Mama!" Then Petalkit's voice came to her ears, even further away but louder than her tiny brother. "Mama! I can't swim!" And then Larchkit, the kit she had named in memory of Appledusk's clan, wailing his plea and mewing for his siblings, he was always caring towards his littermates. "Petal?! Patch?! Where are you Mama?! My paws can't reach the ground!"_

_She felt tears sting her eyes but had no idea if they were falling or not, if they were the water was quick to overtake them. The wound Frecklewish had given her was stinging in the floods. She propelled herself towards her kits, allowing the current to push her faster. They were screaming for her, mews fading every few seconds as more water entered her ears._

_A familiar voice from the shoreline caught part of her attention, and suddenly there was a tree falling ahead of her, crashing down violently and blocking the rest of the river as she was slammed into its bark. Her kits cries were getting further and further away as the familiar voice of Appledusk became clearer and clearer. She managed to look up at the top of the fallen tree, Appledusk was standing on it, claws digging in to keep his balance. He snickered. "What have you done, Mapleshade?" He sneered, a glimmer of amusement in his eyes that made Mapleshade feel much sicker than she already did. "You let them die, Mapleshade. They're gone. You can't save them and neither can I." He hissed._

_His tail lashed, ears pricking as he straightened, fluffy and dry fur puffing out on his chest and back in what she could only see as pride. His words were causing her enough pain, but he laughed loudly, jaws open and tail high and rolling in pure enjoyment. "They're dead!" He stopped, moving his glowing green gaze down to her and smiling widely as he reached down to bite her scruff with his teeth. She flinched. He hadn't tried to be gentle. Appledusk hoisted her to be infront of him, a smile still plastered across his pale brown face. "And now, my dear mate." He unsheathed his claws again, webbing from between them becoming slightly more visible as he flexed his paws. "You will meet them in Starclan." He gave her one last chuckle before his paw raised and swung down, reaching the white patch on her throat._

* * *

Mapleshade jerked awake, eyes wide and claws digging deep into shredded moss beneath her. She shivered, ears flattened and tail coiled tightly around herself. "Oh, my sweethearts.." she whispered, feeling tears sting her eyes again, her eyelid wound had healed quickly but it had left a nasty scar; one that would remind her of Thunderclan's treatment of her and her litter for the rest of her life. She felt a tear drip down her muzzle and then a soft lick on her ear. She couldn't help but let out a tiny purr, cuddling further into her mate's shorter fur, tail moving to intertwine with hers.

"It's alright. You're here with us, you're not in the river." She murmured, purring comfortingly against Mapleshade's side. Darkstar gave her mate another lick, paw moving to rest on Mapleshade's own. "None of it was your fault." Her ear flicked at the moon's position outside the den, sighing. "Are you up for the gathering? You can stay if you'd like." She asked, nothing but care dripping from her mews. 

Mapleshade lifted her head to shake a no. "I'm going with you. I can't stay in here all day every time I think about them." She allowed her voice to pick up slightly. "Besides, I want to see Oakstar's reaction. He hasn't seen me since he exiled me, there hasn't been a gathering again until tonight." She chuckled, Calico fur bunching against her chin as she sat up. Darkstar followed suit, nodding once before making her way out of the cosy den. 

She swallowed. The gathering was important to her mate and her new clan, no matter how much she loved the warmth and cosiness of the leader's den, she hadn't been the most productive since the night she had joined. She had spent almost half a moon in the medicine cat's den due to the river incident and her injured eye. Echowind was a friendly medicine cat and had been nothing but kind during her time with him. The chubby, fluffy, brown and white spotted Tom had treated her faster than she was sure Ravenwing could have. And she hadn't done as much hunting as she'd liked to, Darkstar had been cautious of her loyalty at first, keeping another warrior with eyes on her at all times. Even when the leader had accepted her, the constant memory of her kits was draining.

Moonlight made her white patches glisten as she sat in the clearing, her mate upon the stable small hill that sat at the back of Riverclan camp, surrounded by reeds and strange plants that not many cats could remember the true names of. Darkstar's black fur shone in the moonlight, a glimmer of excitement in her eyes. All cats in the clan knew that their leader loved nothing more than a trip; even a small one to fourtrees and back, no matter what ever happened during the gathering, she loved nothing more about the meetings than the trip to and fro. Cats were already gathered, unsurprised when she talked about leaving for the gathering. 

Mapleshade felt warmth from someone beside her and she turned to see pale brown fur and green eyes that brought back painful memories for her. Her ears twitched as Appledusk gave her a small greeting with a flick of his tail. "Are you excited? Your first gathering as an official Riverclan Cat!" He cheered, eyes gleaming. In a flash there was dark ginger, slightly longer fur by his side, a large smile adorned Reedshine's face. "Oh, isn't it exciting!? I'm just glad I'm able to go, next time I'll be too close to kitting." She stopped herself from continuing, mindful of their new clanmate across from them and Darkstar watching from only three fox-lengths away. "I hope you don't mind me talking about my kits, Maple? I don't want to upset you." 

Her head shook almost immediately, fluffy fur waving in both the cool night breeze and the motion of her head. "Not at all, Reed. I enjoy hearing about your kits, especially since they would be my litters' half-siblings. I'm glad you're still doing well." She answered, the blood was picking up in her ears at the thought of her kits but the cool Riverclan wind was soothing and Appledusk leaned forward to place a light lick on her ear before turning to his mate. 

In less than a moment, Mapleshade had a warm tail wrapped around her paws, Darkstar's tongue running through her fur as she muttered something inaudible. Spiketail must've approached at some point and the deputy cleared his throat, tail whipping from side to side. "Shouldn't we be going, Darkstar?" He meowed, voice heavy with determination to grasp his leader's attention for a longer moment. To the gray tom's relief, Darkstar stepped away from her mate and nodded in agreement, joining him at his side to lead the group beside him.

* * *

"Prey is running well in Thunderclan. Ravenwing's apprentice, Nettlepaw has been busy stocking up on many herbs and he will be earning his medicine cat name in few moons. My daughter, Frecklewish has been slowly recovering from Birchface's death, she has begun joining many more hunting patrols and border patrols whenever she can." Oakstar finished, darker brown stripes highlighted by the moonlight behind the branch the leaders sat on, reasonable distance from one another. 

Shadowclan's leader had spoken before him, the usual slight arrogance and spite in her report. Then Windclan's leader, he always seemed extremely docile, calm and friendly. Not quite cowardly, but definitely not one to start a large argument at any time.

Darkstar straightened, fur pricking slightly as she scanned her gaze over Oakstar's warriors, none of them seemed to have noticed Mapleshade yet. Her eyes gleamed at the opportunity. "Riverclan is doing very well, flood season has been quite easy for hunting and Reedshine will be giving us fine new kits very soon." She mewed, tail swinging. "And of course, I cannot forget the gift of our newest warrior, my mate! She has been a delight for the clan." She purred, eyes glistening with affection as they locked onto Mapleshade's. 

The other two leaders seemed to know that this was between Thunderclan and Riverclan; the two rivals that had always had issues between them, beginning to talk in-between eachother and their own clans. Thunderclan's attention however followed Darkstar's gaze, staring past a few Riverclan warriors before their eyes landed on their target. Oakstar did the same, eyes narrowing and ears pricking in interest, widening and flattening slightly when Mapleshade stepped out to give him better view of herself. His gruff voice growled. "You are a Thunderclan warrior, Mapleshade." 

The she-cat shook her head, looking to the eyes of her past clanmates before focusing back on Oakstar, staring intently up at the branch he and her mate still sat upon. "I am certainly not. You exiled me, Oakstar. I have not been a warrior of yours for a long while." She spoke, voice level and collected. She wanted to lash out, but Darkstar's presence helped her keep calm.

Oakstar bared his teeth for a mere second, before he leaped from the branch, stomping up to her as he had right before he had exiled her. His breath blew hot on Mapleshade's muzzle, sending a chill down her back that she hid from the cats watching. Appledusk was nudging his way through the crowd, paws thudding lightly as he headed straight for Oakstar, determination clear on his face, nose scrunched slightly at the start of a growl. Reedshine latched her claws to his tail, pulling him back by his fur and shaking her head. "Don't! You could make things worse." She whispered.

The Riverclan leader had wasted no time launching herself down to the leaf-strewn ground, ears now flattened against her head and tail now whipping to a much different emotion than before. Oakstar payed no ear, claws unsheathing as he edged his face closer to hers. "Frecklewish told us about you crossing the river. We were sure you wouldn't be accepted by Darkstar and yet here you are; her mate, no less!" He snarled, paws working the soil under them. "And your kits? Where are they, Mapleshade?" His voice was soft with both menace and taunt, his pupils narrowed to slits. "Are they dead?"

In an instant, Darkstar was by her side, lips drawn back, thick black fur spiked out to make her look three times her already rather large size, claws glistening. "How dare—" she snarled, claws raking up dirt underpaw, but Spiketail's voice interrupted her. "Mapleshade's kits were strong, they spent days and nights in the medicine den, unfortunately for all of us, Petalkit and Larchkit died due to the incident, Patchkit, the little thing. He was the last to go. They rest in peace in our territory, their mother's home." 

Oakstar slinked back slightly at the deputy's words, turning to his own clan swiftly when a familiar pattern of pawsteps caught his attention. Frecklewish, golden fur and her speckles looking especially vibrant in the moonlight. "Dad? Please, leave her alone. Birchface would not want you to hurt anyone, especially Mapleshade. You know they were close before he died. Flowerpaw would not want anything to happen to anyone either. You know this." She meowed, her voice sweet and reasonable. She watched her father for a moment longer before Oakstar grunted and turned away, whipping around and telling his clan that it was time for them to go home. Shadowclan and Windclan had dispersed minutes back, uninterested in drama. 

Mapleshade gave a half-hearted nod of thanks to the golden Thunderclan warrior. If she, Appledusk and Reedshine could slowly become friends then she could not hate Frecklewish for the rest of her days. Frecklewish gave a small smile back before trotting away, tail flicking in farewell as she followed her clan. Mapleshade let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. Her clanmates moved around her to start their way back to camp, quiet mutters of sympathy jumping between them as they passed her. Darkstar moved to her mate, nuzzling her and allowing their tails to intertwine before muttering about leaving, making her way back to Spiketail's side.

* * *

The river lapped quietly at the shoreline, fish jumping every few moments and the reeds blowing gently in the calming breeze that Riverclan had so much of. The stars above her glistened, she thought she saw three tinier ones, close to the moon and glowing brighter than others. Darkstar pressed her dark pelt closer to her, purring in comfort. "I'm sure Starclan will take amazing care of them, no flood season up there." She chuckled. Mapleshade felt a strong purr in her throat, Darkstar always seemed to know what she was thinking. "I hope so. I just wish they were here. They loved the water, they'd have made fine Riverclan warriors." 

Darkstar nodded her head. "As do you. I'm still surprised you can swim so well." Mapleshade felt as though her heart would burst, purring louder and louder by the second. It was nice to hear it from her mate, her leader. She was a Riverclan Warrior.

The river was picking up in current five fox-lengths away from them, splashing much harder against the rocks and sand than it was before. Mapleshade shuddered at the sound, a lump forming in her throat. Darkstar ran a lick over her muzzle, her voice quiet and comforting. "Hey, I'm with you, okay? Always." 

Her gaze turned to her mate, amber eyes locking with blue. "Always?" She murmured.

Darkstar purred. "Always."


End file.
